New Orleans Mayor Indicted on Corruption Charges

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was hit with an 18-count federal indictment Friday accusing her of orchestrating a scheme with her bodyguard-turned-lover to defraud the city of more than $70,000.

Cantrell, 53, and Jeffrey Vappie, a member of her Executive Protection Unit (EPU), are charged with multiple crimes — including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

“In or around October 2021, Cantrell and Vappie developed a personal and intimate relationship,” states the indictment in the Eastern District of Louisiana. “To hide their relationship from detection and to maximize their time together, Cantrell and Vappie exploited their public positions to develop and implement a scheme to defraud the City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department by engaging in personal activities while Vappie claimed to be on duty, and was paid for, providing protection for Cantrell.”

As part of their scheme, the elected Democrat mayor arranged for Vappie to accompany her when she traveled outside the state on official business and “falsely claimed” she needed his protection due to safety concerns.

Investigators uncovered at least 14 out-of-state trips Cantrell took with Vappie to “maximize their opportunities to engage in personal activities” costing the City of New Orleans thousands in travel, meal, lodging, salary and incidental expenses Vappie charged to taxpayers – costs separate from the mayor’s own travel expenses.

The trips included visits to Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington, DC, as well as international travel to Scotland and the United Arab Emirates.

Between February 2022 and October 2022 alone, Vappie and Cantrell exchanged more than 15,000 WhatsApp messages, according to the indictment.

In one message included in the charging documents, Vappie reminisced that the Scotland trip in October 2021 was “where it all started.”

“Good, got it. We need this,” Vappie messaged Cantrell in August of 2022, after the mayor said she would arrange for him to tag along on an official trip to Washington, DC.

“Boy do we need this,” Cantrell replied.

The DC jaunt was later described by Vappie in a message to Cantrell as “another great trip, and also another leg on our journey.”

The indictment also noted that Vappie expressed that he “loved” Cantrell “and their physical relationship.”

Vappie and Cantrell are also accused of using a city-owned apartment for personal use, with Vappie frequently spending time there while on duty, both alone and with the mayor.

“Aware their conduct violated rules, policies, and criminal laws, Cantrell and Vappie attempted to distract and impede inquiries and investigations, including a federal grand jury investigation, about the true nature and circumstances of their relationship and their scheme to defraud,” prosecutors wrote.

“They did this by using an encrypted messaging platform, intimidating and punishing subordinates, lying to colleagues and advisors, making false public pronouncements, harassing a private individual who took pictures of them in public together, deleting electronic evidence, making false statements to federal law enforcement agents, authoring an affidavit signed under oath and penalty of perjury containing false information, and testifying falsely while under oath before a federal grand jury,” according to the indictment.

Cantrell, New Orleans’ first female mayor, is term-limited and will leave office in January. She is the first city leader to be charged with a federal crime while still in office.

New Orleans City Council President JP Morrell said the charges mark “a sad day for the people” of the city.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Cantrell family as they navigate through this difficult time,” Morrell, a Democrat, added.